Hindi
Tu chahiye, Zindagi kuch toh bata (Jubin Nautiyal) & Tu jo mila (K.K) – Bajrangi Bhaijan (Pritam)
Ishq karenge, Hogi kranti & Saturday night – Bangistan (Ram Sampath)
Tu kisi rail se – Masaan (Indian Ocean)
More for the video than the song itself!
Kya pataa & Carbon copy – Drishyam (Vishal Bhardwaj)
YOLO & Tu milade – All Is Well (Himesh Reshammiya)
Gaaye jaa, Sapna jahan & Mera naam Mary – Brothers (Ajay-Atul)
Tamil
Aazhi alai – Vizhithiru (Satyan Mahalingam)
Aayiram aayiram, Hope & Despair, Always a woman – Maya (Ron Yohann)
Kannala kannala – Thani Oruvan (Hiphop Tamizha)
Naanal poovai, Naa parakka, Vaal veesum, Boom boom boodham & Orayiram ottaigal – Kirumi (K)
Naa romba busy – Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga (D.Imman)
Yaendi yaendi & Jingiliya – Puli (Devi Sri Prasad)
Marudakkari, Yaar indha muyalkutty & Silukku marame – Paayum Puli (D.Imman)
Parapara & Konjalai – Yatchan (Yuvan Shankar Raja)
Telugu
Charuseela & Jaago – Srimanthudu (Devi Sri Prasad)
Nee aahaha, Chachi povalanundi, Atu itu & Na gunde chappudu – Hora Hori (Kalyan Koduri)
Kannada
Akka pakka, Ee sanje, Kareyole & Dennana Dennana – Rangitaranga (Anup Bhandari)
I had completely missed listening to this soundtrack, even though the film was making waves in Bangalore. Akka pakka sparkles with a lively energy, thanks to Anup’s packaging, even though it is largely templatized as a tune. Ee sanje is aptly ballad’ish with Anup again demonstrating a good hand over the orchestration. Kareyole is singer Inchara Rao’s show, with her sounding like a local Kannada version of Sunidhi Chauhan, and Anup adding almost-world music’ish backgrounds. Anup does wonders with the Tulu song Dennana Dennana, pumping up the orchestral sound to raise the bar for a simple folk song.
Sari tappu & Kaanadaa nalividu – Plus (B.J.Bharath)
Papon leads the song that sounds almost like Mano Murthy song, with a tinge of Latino. And Chetan Gandharva nails Kaanadaa nalividu’s rendition. Bharath’s tune is simple and evocative, like a classic Western pop!
Malayalam
Ennu kaanum – Ayal Njanalla (Manu Ramesan)
Of the 2 songs Manu composed for the film, Sithara-sung Ennu kaanum rules over the other song, Neela vaanam. Sithara’s singing is of course fantastic, but it is Manu’s Broadway’ish packaging that stands out.
Chantham thelinju – Utopiayile Rajavu (Ouseppachan)
Very Ouseppachan and almost orchestrated like a Rahman song! The solo version by Jayachandran is as good as the duet version featuring Rahul and Mridula Warrier! Its raaga escapes me and I whirl between Sankarabharanam, Kedaram, Senchurutti, Sahana and Sama! Would love to know the predominant raaga used in this song so that I can discover why I love this song.
Ninnale innen & Kaathil parayumo – Rudrasimhasanam (Viswajith)
Thumba poove sundari & Ayyayyo – Kunjiramayanam (Justin Prabhakaran)
Duniyaavin – KL10 Pathu (Bijibal)
Kankankalil – Madhura Naranga (Sreejith-Saachin)
Marathi
Sobane soyanire – Carry On Maratha (Shail-Pritesh)
Sobane soyanire is the Kannada-Marathi equivalent of Dil Se’s Malayalam-Hindi Jiya Jale. Owing to the leading man falling in love with a Kannada girl in the film, the debutant composing duo Shail Hada and Pritesh Mehta skillfully mix Marathi and Kannada in a rhythmic melody. Shreya Ghoshal is as usual pitch perfect with her rendition, while Shail Hada sings this one with her. Despite the largely traditional tune, the composers do add a dash modernity in it, in the form of the guitar that plays in the background.
Kalandar & Kangaroo – Highway Ek Selfie Aarpar (Amit Trivedi)
Partuni yena, Konse desh chala & Aadhir mann jhale – Nilkanth Master (Ajay-Atul)
Pop
Nehar Wale Pul – The Punjab Project (Sumit Sethi ft. Sona Mohapatra)
Sona Mohapatra’s new album is aimed at modernising and making accessible classic Punjabi folk songs to a newer audience. Along with producer Sumit Sethi, the first song of the album is an iconic song by Noor Jehan titled ‘Nehar Wale Pul’ (originally composed by Salim Iqbal for the 1973 Pakistani film Dukh Sajna De, with lyrics by Khwaja Parvez). The folktronica cover seems to be overdoing the electronic layer over what is a simple, charming and rustic tune, but in the interest of bringing it to a set of younger listeners, the overall package balances the old with the new skillfully.
Others
Talabgaar hoon & Gul bashri – Moor (Strings)
